Finished up the fourth and final book of Iriya's Sky, UFO Summer last night.

Hardly what I'd call a great finale, but it had some nice moments (as well as one very tasteless one), and Akiyama's writing is brisk and usually at least somewhat amusing. The ending was marred somewhat by a bloody, insufficiently-motivated showdown that could've been dropped entirely and no one would've noticed. Kind of ruined the mood.

Along the way through this series, I've thought numerous times that one volume -- not four -- would have been plenty to tell this story. I'll extend that estimate now to two volumes -- there did turn out to be sort of a point to all the wandering around and goofing off -- but the basic issue still stands. This is one very stuffed bird.

One thing I just can't get used to in light novels is the occasional use of cartoon logic and cartoony character traits (which not every author uses, to be fair). The first time I saw wacky comedy and serious violence cohabitating in the same story was Johji Manabe's comic book "Outlanders." It threw me for a loop at the time, but eventually I got used to it and enjoyed the story. I can't seem to get used to it in written fiction though. I always think, "Keep that goofy stuff out of novels!"

So anyway, farewell Iriya, Asaba, and Suizenji. It was kinda fun hanging out for a while, I guess.

One thing I just can't get used to in light novels is the occasional use of cartoon logic and cartoony character traits (which not every author uses, to be fair). The first time I saw wacky comedy and serious violence cohabitating in the same story was Johji Manabe's comic book "Outlanders." It threw me for a loop at the time, but eventually I got used to it and enjoyed the story. I can't seem to get used to it in written fiction though. I always think, "Keep that goofy stuff out of novels!"

I understand that you also read light novels as a kind of 〈箸休め〉 in your learning Japanese, but, as I said before, roughly speaking, light novels are pulp fiction with anime/manga-style illustrations aimed at teenage otaku. When a person who likes 'heavy' books reads light novels, it is possible that he encounters light novels which he thinks are silly/cartoony/childish/cheap/lowbrow and so on.

I've read some short stories by several of them, some in Engish and some in Japanese. Yamano Koichi, Hirai Kazumasa, Yano Tetsu, Toyota Aritsune, Hoshi Shin'ichi, Tsutsui Yasutaka, Ohara Mariko (there may be some second generation writers mixed in).

Speaking of Japanese science fiction works, the Federation of Science Fiction Fan Groups of Japan has issued the candidate list for the 44th Seiun Awards.

About to start Spice and Wolf vol. 8, what a ride it's been so far. Seriously who'd a thought the whole talk of money would be interesting, who doesn't like making some cash or in the case of the Spice and Wolf world coins but it works for me. Sadly they left out book 4 out of the Anime great story learning about another town that worships another pagan god.

Welp, I finally did it, I'm offically caught up with Index Via the novels, my two cents:
spoiler[ It was overall a very fun and sometimes even thrilling experience, but if there's one thing I learned from reading them all it’s that this series really, REALLY isn't for everyone. The novels have the exact opposite problem than what people claim the anime have in that it doesn’t explain anything. The novels explain everything alright, and by everything, my mean EVERY DAMN THING. Sometimes it just felt hard to process, while I get the overall picture I'm still a bit unsure if I fully understand everything yet. For me what attracts me to this series the most is sort of how these characters interact and cross each other in these crazy ass situations and this is especially prevalent in the "new testament" series. It fascinates me how despite not having a real concrete plot (though it does thankfully have a sense of focus) and not having the deepest characters of all time, that it keeps me wanting to see more.

As I said earlier however I stand by what I mean in that this series is not for everyone. Touma does get some development here but I’m not sure if everyone will wholly accept it as ‘good’ development especially when compared to the other characters in the same series. When one comes across an info dump it hits hard and something’s can seem just outright odd like how the ‘revived #2’ was handled as well as what frema’s real ‘ability’ is. I think it takes looking at it a certain type of way to really enjoy it, the kind of perspective to just want to see a bunch of crazy shit in one place and personally I find it kind of fun. It’s like someone building a giant house of cards; you keep expecting them to fudge it up but they just keep stacking up cards anyway. Use what’s actually formed isn’t clear, but it’s still amazing that the cards were even able to stand up without crumbling down on itself.
]

With that, I'm taking a break from the series and recived my copy of the Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya in the mail (I was gonna read DRRR! beforehand, but aw well) I have read a bit of it sofar and damn Kyon's narration is just as awesome as it is in the anime, I can't wait to keep reading it!

Haven't posted in a while due to a big project I had going on, but now I have downtime again, and have started reading the second book of Tanaka Yoshiki's "Tytania" series. What bumped this up to the top of my reading list is the fact that on September 25, "Tytania" volume IV will come out in Japan. It'll be the first new book for this series in 23 years.

The second book so far focuses on Zarlisch's vendetta with Fan -- or more precisely, his mother's vendetta spoiler[after Fan assassinated her other son Alces at the end of the first novel.] It's taking me a little while to get back in the groove and remember who's who, since a few years have passed since I read the first one.

When a person who likes 'heavy' books reads light novels, it is possible that he encounters light novels which he thinks are silly/cartoony/childish/cheap/lowbrow and so on.

I like the idea of light novels quite a bit; just not the execution in many cases. A lot of that has to do with changing trends in fandom; the shift from the heavily SF-inspired 80's/90's otaku to the current generation, which so often seems more interested in raunchy comedy and cute girls doing cute things. A few that I have enjoyed include:

- "Record of Lodoss War" (better than either anime version)
- "Martian Successor Nadesico: The Tale of Ruri from A to B"
- the Michiko Yokote "Patlabor" novels
- "12 Kingdoms"
- some of Shinobu Suga's work for Cobalt
- what I've read so far of "Garden of Sinners" (the first 3 stories)

I even enjoyed the first Sword Art Online book for what it was (though I don't think it should have turned into a series afterward). I love anime, and love to read books that give me the same kind of feelings; however, I don't love every kind of anime, and LN publishing at this time seems largely focused on duplicating exactly the kind of anime that does nothing for me.

Okay, just finished the second book of "Tytania" by Yoshiki Tanaka, and it was a lot of fun. The rebel heroes of the story really get short shrifted, but this is made up for by all the fun scheming and counter-scheming that the Tytania schemers are up to -- I guess that's why the books are named after them. At 222 pages, it's rather short. Book 4 is out now, and is about the same length. I'm a little surprised that it isn't at least a little longer, considering the 23 year wait and all.

I've only seen the anime as far as its adaptation of the first book, but based on what I've read, the end of the anime and the end of this second volume are the same. Looking at episode synopses, I see a lot of stuff from the anime that wasn't in either of the two volumes I've read. Maybe it's original filler, or maybe it's taken from book 3. Noboru Ishiguro did move things around and change details pretty freely, both in this and in what I've seen/read of LotGH.

I may plunge into Book 3 soon, or I may read something else in between. Haven't quite decided yet.

Yesterday, I finished going through the Dangan Ronpa LP on Something Awful. Now, I've seen the Future Diary anime. Why do I bring this up? Well, while I did like Future Diary, it's very clear to me that Dangan Ronpa is the superior work in terms of story and character writing.

At it's heart, Dangan Ronpa is not a blood and gore fest, but a murder mystery. Dare I say it, this visual novel may be one of the BEST murder mysteries I have ever read. Everything makes sense when you go back and re-read the story, and the mysteries surrounding the events are fun to solve and will keep you guessing to the perfectly written ending.

The characters in Dangan Ronpa all have depth. Initially, they all seem to fit certain high school stereotypes. (Like, Ishimaru's the class rep, Asahina's the cool big sister, Yamada's the otaku, Fukawa's the bookworm, and so on.) I think the creators had very interesting ideas about humanity and wanted to explore them using these stereotypes. And damn it, it works! Every character is relatable, even the most despicable students like Togami and Celestia have certain depths that make you want to root for them.

Overall, Dangan Ronpa is a delightful mystery you could swear was written by Ryuukishi07, with a cast of characters that Ryohgo Narita would be proud of. (It's no coincidence that Narita wrote a "what if" story appropriately titled Dangan Ronpa IF.) Please, please, PLEASE check this game out at Something Awful. It is fantastic!

Finished "Tytania 3." Not as much happened this time around. It has one brief battle scene, and a whole lot of scheming, strategizing, and positioning. Book 3 is a slow burn that mainly moves characters around and sets things up for a major conflict between spoiler[Idris and a Jusran-Aliabart alliance] that is apparently to come in book 4, which is finally out now.

In short, spoiler[Aliabart is defeated by Fan Hyurick a second time, and Jusran is sent to take over for him after his resignation. Just as Jusran is departing from Uranibolg, Landless Clanner Ajumahn is injured in an assassination attempt. Jusran is accused of being behind it, though he really had nothing to do with it. When Idris tries to have him arrested, Jusran thinks he's being set up and will not be given a fair trial. For this reason, he flees to join Aliabart at Planet Balgus. Ajumahn is being kept out of the media, so no one is sure how bad he's injured or even if he's still alive. Since Idris is well-known to be ambitious, it looks like a coup from Jusran and Aliabart's POV, and they begin preparations for civil war. But it turns out Idris is just as clueless about what's going on as everyone else. Other forces seem to be at work playing one side against the other, and only at the end do we get a hint about who might have sent the assassin.]

I can see why this one wasn't animated; book 4 didn't exist at the time, so it would have been one big buildup with no ultimate payoff. Here's hoping Tanaka still has his magic after letting this series lie dormant for so long. Reviews on Amazon.jp are mixed in this regard.

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Edit: Now reading: "Paradox Paradigm," the final story in volume 1 of Nasu Kinoko's "The Garden of Sinners." It's about 160 pages, and I believe it continues in volume 2. Basically a full-blown novel, whereas it's been novellas up to this point. "Tytania 4" will probably be next after this. I like to vary things up a bit between volumes of series.

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